Andrew Warren announced on Jan. 8, 2024, that he will not seek reelection as state attorney for Hillsborough County: Source: Screenshot/Warren video
Former Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren’s legal fight over his suspension by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has come to an end.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit Court ruled Friday that Warren’s challenge was now moot, since his four-year term after being elected in 2020 had ended earlier this month.
“Because Warren’s term of office has concluded, we cannot grant him any meaningful relief on appeal in this case in which he effectively seeks, either by injunctive or declaratory relief, his reinstatement to office,” said Judges Jill Pryor, Kevin Newsom and Anne Conway in their five-page opinion.
DeSantis suspended Warren in August of 2022 for alleged “neglect of duty” and “incompetence” after he signed a pledge not to prosecute alleged crimes arising from abortion or transgender care.
Warren challenged his suspension in federal court. U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle ruled that DeSantis had violated the First Amendment in removing Warren because of political differences and anticipated “political benefit” to the governor. Hinkle said, however, that he lacked power to reinstate Warren.
However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled in January that Hinkle should reconsider that decision. The DeSantis administration immediately appealed that decision.
But the appeals court opted not to immediately rule on the case, even after Warren announced this April that he would run again for the seat, challenging Republican Suzy Lopez, who DeSantis appointed to replace him in 2022.
That delay was noted today in a statement released on Friday by Warren’s Phoenix-based attorney, J. Cabou, with the Perkins Cole an law firm.
“At every turn, Mr. Warren asked the federal courts to act with utmost urgency in his case. He filed his suit in August 2022, less than a month after being illegally suspended,” said Cabou. “Before the Court of Appeals, he filed numerous motions seeking to expedite not only the Court’s consideration of the case, but also its issuance of the mandate once that Court concluded the trial court had erred. The decision today that his case is now moot because the Court itself allowed the clock to run out is a sledgehammer not only to the First Amendment, but also to the rule of law, at a time when our nation urgently needs unfractured confidence in both.”
Lopez defeated Warren by more than five percentage points last November.
Although Warren knew it was likely that the courts would not reinstate him, he continued his legal fight, arguing that a controversy remained because a declaration that his suspension was unconstitutional would allow him to recover back pay under Florida law.
In their opinion however, the three-judge panel ruled that state law “permits an officer who was suspended to recover back pay only when he later became entitled to ‘resume’ the duties of his office. Because Warren’s term of office has now expired, any declaration that his suspension was unconstitutional would not entitle him to resume the duties of state attorney. As a result, even if he received a declaration that his suspension was unconstitutional, he would not be entitled to back pay.”
“As everyone knows, justice delayed is justice denied,” Warren said in a statement.”I’m embarrassed for our justice system by this decision, as should be anyone who believes in the rule of law and the American values we teach our children.”
DeSantis was actively involved in ensuring that Lopez defeated Warren last fall, and appeared this past week at the official investiture ceremony for Lopez.
The governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.